Sunday, 27 February 2011

Chapter One..

This is a very rough first draft.. I haven't even proof read it, just putting it up briefly to get your thoughts..

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When Laura fell pregnant at 18 she knew she wanted her baby, the news met mixed reactions but she couldn’t consider any other option. All she’d ever wanted was a baby, how could she give one up? No matter how unprepared she was. Her boyfriend, Tom was supportive and said he would stand by her decision. They had only been together a matter of weeks, the baby sent them crashing back down to earth from the new-love-haze before the test was even dry. In truth, Tom had been a rebound relationship. She had just broken up with her first serious boyfriend and what came next should have been fun and carefree.. not a lifelong commitment.

And so, nine months and a C-Section later, a baby girl was born, Lilly. She was loved, her parents stayed with Laura’s family while they got settled before setting up on their own. It was a nice little life. A nice little, affordable house close to their families and a newborn baby to keep them occupied. Sometimes, more than occupied. Of course problems came along but they managed, they moved on. It’s difficult to raise a child when you are still growing up yourselves. The toughest feat of all was juggling being young with being a parent. How can you watch your friends living their teens and early twenties without some resentment for the life you could have had. Tom and Laura still went out, occasionally together but more often separately with their friends, leaving the other behind with Lilly. This suited Laura just fine, she was having her fun and she didn’t miss Tom. She loved him, he was a great guy, more importantly he was a great Dad but she just.. didn’t miss him when he was gone. About a year after they moved in together Tom proposed. Laura was so excited, she couldn’t wait to tell her friends, she had a diamond ring, wow! How many other 20 year olds could say that? Well.. not many she knew of anyway. She wanted to set a date, she couldn’t wait to start planning a wedding. It was never the time and they never had the money and after another year of waiting she had almost given up. They were drifting apart and things just weren’t really working. There was nothing she could put her finger on but she just wasn’t happy anymore. The talk was had.. should they cut and run or did they still have something worth saving?

Rather than split up the decision was made to get married. The date was set a year from then and Laura threw herself into full on Bridezilla mode. She had magazines upon magazines stacked all over the house, she’d made numerous reference files, mood boards and invitation mock ups and she’d tried on so many dresses that she couldn’t remember one. There were not enough hours in the day for the plans she was making and Tom didn’t feature in any of them.

The day arrived, everything was as it should be. From her Ivory, custom made, duchess satin gown to her pale blue Jimmy Choos, she looked like she’d stepped off the pages of Modern Bride and down the aisle. There was only one small hitch to her otherwise perfect day, Laura wasn’t sure she wanted to marry the man standing in front of her. She looked at Tom, he looked lovingly at her and complimented her dress, she knew he would take care of her, he would never hurt her, he was a good guy, that should be enough, right? After the vows and the photographs came the Wedding “Breakfast”. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, the food was delicious, the ambient music she had chosen to be played was at just the right volume, you could hear it but you could hold a conversation, her parents looked so proud, everyone was.. happy. It wasn’t until after the meal that Laura got a moment alone, she changed for her evening reception, her dress was not made for dancing, but it was most definitely made for pictures, she thought as she touched up her makeup. She was looking forward to seeing what the photographer had taken. Looking at herself in the mirror she was sure she had made the right choice. If she’d walked away she would have always regretted it, wondered what if? how could she have explained to Lilly why she left her father at the alter? No, no she’d absolutely done the right thing. Applying a slick of lipstick she headed back to the party just in time for her first dance with her new husband.

The weeks following the wedding were strange, it had all been so hectic leading to the day that she didn’t really know what to do with herself when it was all over. The presents were received, thank you notes were sent and eventually, the day Laura had been waiting for.. the wedding pictures arrived. The book was just gorgeous. Italian, the photographer had told her, very good quality. Opening it up she could feel it. There they were on the front cover, they looked so happy, as she leafed through the pages feeling smug she came across a candid of her before the ceremony she hadn’t know it was being taken and there was something in her eyes ,fear?, doubt? Laura shook it off, it was just cold feet, everybody gets them, there were so many beautiful pictures of family, friends, it was a great day. She closed the book, placed it back in it’s box and shelved it for safe keeping. That was the last time she looked at it.

Weeks passed and life got back to normal. Laura went back to work and carried one as she always did, nobody liked their job, did they? She was no different. One morning she got in and was told she’d been reassigned. A friend with some influence had pulled a few strings to get her a sweet little job assisting in another department. The hours were better, the work was easy, it was just a shame it wasn’t permanent. She was working there with another guy from her department so she wasn’t alone, although oddly they’d never met before. He was nice enough and also a newlywed so they had plenty to talk about. As she and Tyler got to know each other better it turned out they had more in common than they first thought. Their relationships were both at, lets say, a bit of a crossroads. They could both think of many reasons to stay and perhaps equal reasons to leave but neither wanted to make that leap. They worked together for a month, their relationship blossomed and they became very good friends. Once the assignment ended they continued to spend time together at work, both agreeing how strange it was they’d never met before, they had worked in the same department for 6 years and never crossed paths. “Perhaps it was meant to be” Tyler offered one afternoon. “Perhaps” Laura replied. This was the beginning of the end of her marriage, though she didn’t know it then.

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further chapters will be added to the new tab (above) under "twenty something" so if you want to read... it's there! thankyou for any feedback